A scientist confesses to falsifying data | Philly Health Insider
Plus, judge orders retrial of $45 million malpractice verdict against Temple
We have all the details on a former Nemours scientist who admitted to misconduct after working there for more than 15 years. Plus,
Try again: Philly judge orders retrial after $45 million malpractice verdict against Temple University Hospital
Addiction care curtailed: A zoning board said Prevention Point can no longer host multiple providers, a setback in care available for people with addiction
Fee for scripts: Bucks County doctor faces criminal charges for illegally prescribing a controlled substance for $130
📮 Do you think the $45 million verdict against Temple was too high? For a chance to be featured in this newsletter, email us back.
If someone forwarded you this newsletter, sign up here.
— Alison McCook, Inquirer health reporter
It’s a message no employer wants to get.
After leaving Nemours Children’s Health, where she worked as a scientist for more than 15 years, Valerie Sampson notified the health system that she had falsified data. Nemours launched an investigation into her work, and contacted the journals that published papers containing potentially problematic data.
As a former editor at Retraction Watch, which covers scientific misconduct (and was the first to report this story), I’ve covered a lot of cases of scientific misconduct. But I can’t remember many other instances where a researcher came forward to admit it, seemingly of their own accord. Even the notices on two retracted papers by Sampson include her confession, and clarify that none of her coauthors were involved.
Sampson coauthored over a dozen scientific papers, and it’s unclear how many of them are affected. Also unclear is whether there are any issues with the work Sampson did at WuXi Advanced Therapies, one of the biggest biotech employers in Philadelphia, where she worked for over a year after leaving Nemours. (A representative of WuXi declined to comment.)
I tried every way I could to talk to Sampson — called, texted, and e-mailed a phone number and email addresses under her name, and even left a note at the address listed as her latest residence, but she did not respond to my requests for comment.
Here are all the facts that I was able to gather about this unusual case of scientific misconduct.
The latest news to pay attention to
A Philadelphia judge ruled the $45 million verdict against Temple University Hospital in a malpractice lawsuit was “exorbitant,” and has ordered a retrial. Harold Brubaker has more on this unusual move by a Common Pleas Court judge.
The city’s zoning board has barred Prevention Point from allowing multiple medical providers to care for patients at the same time, something it has done since 2019. The move could delay medical care for people with addiction at the public health organization located near one of the largest open-air drug markets in the country. Prevention Point plans to appeal, and will continue to host multiple providers in the meantime.
Prosecutors have charged a Bucks County doctor for illegally prescribing the opioid addiction treatment drug buprenorphine without discussing patients’ health needs. Kenneth Fox was fired from Jefferson Health in 2022.
This week’s big number: $1,005,040
That’s the total amount of fines facing Sterling Manor Nursing Center, a Burlington County nursing home, much of it due to multiple drug overdoses by residents. It’s the largest sum of financial penalties out of more than 2,300 nursing homes that were fined this year through Oct. 2, according to a new analysis from Harold. He has more on the beleaguered facility, where regulators are now threatening to terminate its participation in Medicare and Medicaid.
Between February and October, health inspectors made 13 visits to the main campus of The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and its Cedar Avenue facility, which specializes in mental and behavioral health services. HUP was cited for issues including unsanitary conditions and inadequate standards for use of urinary catheters at Cedar Avenue. Reporter Sarah Gantz has all the available information on the 13 inspections.
E. coli has been in the news lately, as outbreaks have hit everything from baby carrots to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.
How can we protect our health from potential exposures to E. coli?
Nephrologist Helena Kurniawan, currently based at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, has some tips to prevent a dangerous — and potentially deadly — kidney complication from E. coli.
One month after saying it was on the brink of bankruptcy, the Mazzoni Center has laid off an undisclosed number of employees. The city’s largest LGBTQ health agency is struggling to pay high-interest (over 40%) loans taken out by a former top executive. Before the layoffs, roughly 160 people worked at the Mazzoni Center, most of whom are unionized.
Harold and Abraham Gutman have more on the years of financial struggle the agency has faced.
Mark Cuban is known for a lot of things, including as one of the most outspoken investors on Shark Tank. Lately, he’s been adding pharmacist to his CV — and Penn Medicine is one of his newest buyers.
Earlier this month, Penn Medicine became the first nonprofit health system to sign a contract to purchase generic drugs from Cuban’s Cost Plus Marketplace. The agreement is meant to supply Penn’s 16 pharmacies, which collectively fill 1.5 million prescriptions each year.
Cuban’s Cost Plus charges a flat 15% markup on its cost, as a way to increase price transparency in pharmaceuticals. Penn said the deal will help its profit margins by eliminating “unnecessary markups,” but declined to provide any information on the financial benefit it expects to gain.
📮Do you think Cuban’s Cost Plus Marketplace is a good disrupter in the pharma space? For a chance to be featured in this newsletter, email us back.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.